Spanish actor Javier Bardem continues his adventurous run of roles in “The Sea Inside,” a movie that bogs down in its fact-based, issue-oriented material. But Bardem is superb.

A Spanish star of the 1990s, Bardem copped an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay Cuban writer in “Before Night Falls.” He transformed himself completely to play a beefy unemployed man in “Mondays in the Sun,” and became a sleek underworld figure in “Collateral.” He is nearly unrecognizable again in “The Sea Inside,” except for the talent.

Bardem plays Ramon Sampedro, a Spanish man who attracted worldwide attention for his campaign in favor of death with dignity. Sampedro became a quadriplegic after a diving accident when he was a young man.

Sampedro spent 30 years confined to his bed, unable to move anything below his neck. He became convinced that suicide was preferable to this existence, but his lack of motor skills meant that such a decision would have to be an assisted suicide – and Spanish law was strictly against the idea.

The film tracks Sampedro’s legal challenge, and his relationships with dutiful family, who care for him. Two characters weave into the story: Julia (Belen Rueda), a lawyer pursuing his case (and dealing with her own encroaching disability), and Rosa (Lola Duenas, from “Talk to Her”), a disc jockey who initially approaches Sampedro in the hopes of changing his mind.

Naturally, at the center of the film is an acting challenge: Javier Bardem spends virtually the entire movie immobile. He has taken this on physically, gaining weight and aging himself, but the best part of his performance is the specificity and delicacy of his facial expressions. His face (he looks like one of Picasso’s bulls) and voice are all he has, and Bardem puts intensity and humor into both.

Flashbacks depict Sampedro’s accident, and Bardem once again transforms himself for these disturbing sequences.

The topic of assisted suicide has come up in movies before (“Whose Life is it Anyway?”). For this examination, director Alejandro Amenabar allows other voices in, but it’s clear that he sympathizes with Sampedro’s argument – Catholic teaching comes in for particularly harsh treatment.

Amenabar is a good director (“The Others”), but he struggles with ways to make this story come alive. In fact, perhaps he opens it up too much, although the moments when Sampedro’s imagination takes him outside his window and across the fields to the ocean are exhilarating.

Bardem was nominated for a Golden Globe, but no Oscar nod this time. He’ll have more chances, but this work is worth noticing.

Javier Bardem and Belen Rueda star in “The Sea Inside.”

“The Sea Inside” HHH

Well acted: Javier Bardem gives a superb performance as Ramon Sampedro, a quadriplegic Spaniard who campaigned for the right to die with dignity. Director Alejandro Amenabar doesn’t always succeed in bringing this story to life, but it’s well acted. (In Spanish, with English subtitles.)

Rated: PG-13 rating is for subject matter.

Now showing: Meridian

“The Sea Inside” HHH

Well acted: Javier Bardem gives a superb performance as Ramon Sampedro, a quadriplegic Spaniard who campaigned for the right to die with dignity. Director Alejandro Amenabar doesn’t always succeed in bringing this story to life, but it’s well acted. (In Spanish, with English subtitles.)

Rated: PG-13 rating is for subject matter.

Now showing: Meridian